Closed Vermont nuclear plant sale complete

VERNON, Vt. (AP) — The closed Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant has a new owner.

The sale of the plant to a demolition company was completed on Friday, according to Entergy Corp.

Vermont state regulators approved the sale by Entergy to Northstar in early December.

The primary benefit was that the New York-based Northstar planned to start decommissioning the plant no later than 2021, decades sooner than Entergy planned, the Vermont Public Utility Commission.

"This is a great day for the people of Vernon, Windham County and Vermont," Republican Gov. Phil Scott said. "The agreement will shave decades off the decommissioning timeline and return the site to safe and productive reuse as quickly as possible. The state initially had concerns that Entergy and North Star were not willing to make sufficient financial commitments to this process in order to protect Vermonters. We pressed the companies to address our concerns, and we are pleased with the end result."

Vermont Yankee closed in 2014 after operating for 42 years.

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